Free Mail server on 2000/2003 Server

Looking for a mail server program. which can provide Pop3/SMTP for multiple domains. I am looking for a backup solution for my customers if their Exchange servers go down. I am looking for something which is free, host multiple domains, supports aliases for email addresses. Needs to run on windows and hopefully doesnt require any programming to install. I am not looking for the POP3 server which comes with windows 2003 server because as far as I know it does not support aliases for email addresses.

If you want a full featured program like that, you're probably better off going with something on Linux and not sticking to windows. You could, for example, setup a Linux server in a virtual machine to run as a Mail server, then keep the VM off with no negative consequences (other than maybe needing some patching) until it's needed. Further, it would be easy to put the VM on a DVD and install at every customer site with a minimal amount of reconfiguration.

But I wouldn't even do that. It doesn't sound like you understand e-mail services very well. In the VAST majority of instances, there will be at least TWO DAYS of retries on e-mail messages... and if you couldn't get my exchange server back up in two days, I wouldn't want you as my IT person/company.

My issue is that if their Exchange server were to go down I would like to setup a backup MX going to a pop server which each outlook client would be configured with so they would have Outlook with Exchange (Cached mode), and pop3 pointing to either an offsite server (at my location) or a local server running the pop3. When Outlook would query for mail, since their is no email on the pop3 server it would do notheing. In the Event their exchange server went down, they would still be able to have email until a time in which I would be able to bring it back up. Since I could be 2 hours from that location and then time to troubleshoot...ie Hardware or software..they would be operational which practically no loss in functionality. When the exchange sever would reconnect, the email sent and received via POP/SMTP would synchronize back to the Exchange server.

Of course, anything could happen... but there are MANY solutions you can implement for Exchange High Availability. I can sympathize with wanting to provide the highest uptime to the customer for the lowest price, but you should also consider the potential issues this can generate, including confusion about how the system works if a new consultant appears, the possible need for a second public IP, and a host of other problems. What might make more sense is to pay an ISP $5-20 per month to host a backup system. Again, if you want free, I'd suggest going the linux route with a virtual machine... but otherwise, make the client purchase appropriate software to provide high availability - Exchange Enterprise Edition, Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, and a SAN system for a clustered Exchange. Or, look into third party apps that can "mirror" the server.

The hosted at the ISP might be able to provide the second and third as a single solution. I document all my setups so anyone coming in would easily be able to understand. Also high availability is very expensive. Most of my clients are SMB's.

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